Pregnant woman shoots boyfriend; both face charges

BOYNTON BEACH — A man was taken to a hospital Monday morning after he was shot by his pregnant girlfriend, according to Boynton Beach police.

The 19-year-old woman told investigators her boyfriend pulled the gun on her after she confronted him about cheating, and that she shot him in self-defense. He said she pulled the gun on him, according to the arrest report.

Both Lachelle Soodeen and Joshua Hewitt, 28, of Boynton Beach face aggravated battery charges following the shooting, police said.

On Monday morning, city police said Soodeen woke up before Hewitt and went through his cellphone. She told police when she went into the bedroom where he was sleeping to confront him, he had a gun out and demanded his phone back.

Police said Soodeen, who is four months pregnant, ran to the kitchen to grab a knife, then went back into the bedroom. Soodeen told police when she got there, the couple fought over the gun and the weapon went off.

The 19-year-old said she yelled for her grandmother to help her. She told police she lives with the grandmother, who did not know Hewitt was spending the night at the house on Northwest Third Street. The grandmother made her way into the room and hit Hewitt with a wooden stick, and he ran out of the home, according to the report.

Hewitt soon came back to the residence in a car with someone else to retrieve his phone. Soodeen said she went out to confront him again and shot him. She said she thought he was reaching for a weapon in the car. As the car sped away, she told police she shot at the vehicle two more times.

Before Hewitt was taken into surgery for the gunshot wound in his groin, he told police a different story: He said he was asleep when Soodeen came into the room armed with a knife and a gun. He said that as he tried to get the gun out of her hand, her grandmother hit him and he ran out of the residence.

When he returned to the home 10 minutes after the incident with a friend to try to get his phone back, Soodeen shot him, Hewitt told police. He “denied ownership of the gun and denied ever threatening Soodeen with it,” according to the report.

Both Soodeen and Hewitt had injuries to their bodies, police said.

Hewitt is facing charges of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, aggravated battery with a firearm and posession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Soodeen faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Judge Dina Keever-Agrama set Soodeen’s bail at $50,000 during a hearing Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Jail a nd ordered her to be on house arrest if she is released. Hewitt did not appear before Keev- er-Agrama, and an update on his condition was not available.